Sport / Primary pupils serve up a treat at table tennis championships
THE TABLE tennis primary top 12’s competitions were held last weekend, with the boys up first on Friday night.
Top seed Dylan Flaws stamped his authority with five straight wins to top group A. The coveted second spot in the semi-finals came down to the match between Brae pair Ryan Peterson and Sonny Flaws.
It was a close affair, but Peterson won 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 to progress.
In group B it was Terry Peterson who justified his top seeding to win five straight matches and head the group.
James Robertson and Giovanni Carlacinni had a shoot-out for second, with Robertson taking the first set 11-6.
But Carlaccini came back strongly to take the next two sets 11-3, 11-6. Robertson rallied again, but it was Carlaccini who prevailed by the narrowest of margins 13-11 to proceed.
The semi-finals brought together brothers Ryan and Terry Peterson, and it was Ryan who took the first set 11-8.
Further scores of 11-9 and 11-8 saw him win the match and justifiably progress to the final.
In the other semi-final Dylan Ritch showed his quality, winning in three sets against Carlaccini.
In the final Ritch had too much firepower for Ryan Peterson, winning it 3-0.
Next up on Saturday was the girls, with the big hitters in group A and the budding stars in group B.
Hanna Sneider and Eve Johnson served up a thriller in the first round, Sneider exploding out of the blocks to win the first two sets and leading 7-3 in the third.
Somehow Johnson turned the tide, pipping Sneider to the third 12-10.
She backed this up, winning the next two sets 11-7, 11-8 to take the match.
This was later chosen as match of the tournament and rightly so. It was a credit to both players.
Ava Swift then had her say, putting together a run of three wins against Elska Ritch, Sneider and Eve Johnson, leaving her one win away from being champion.
Unfortunately for her top seed and reigning champion Peony Li was up next, who had won her first three matches.
And she quickly settled into her stride to beat Swift in straight sets.
The final round of matches would determine the outcome of the event, with Eve Johnson needing a win over Li to produce a three-way tie and a countback.
Li took a tight first set 14-12 and was well placed when she took the second 11-7. However, Johnson took the third set 12-10 to keep her hopes alive.
Another very close fourth set went the way of Li, 12-10, to secure the match and the title. The win for Li also meant Swift took the runners-up medal with four wins.
Group B gave the opportunity for the next set of talented girls to gain experience.
Top place would be decided by the match between Sarah Cox, who had come all the way from Unst, and Ava Thuis from Cunningsburgh.
Cox won her the first two sets before Thuis took the third set 11-9. This spurred Cox on and she found some big winners to take the fourth set and the match 11-4.
This gave both girls four wins from five, but Cox won the winners medal having won the head-to-head.
Chairman John Smith thanked sponsors EnQuest and Dragon House for their support, and development officer Joan Smith for officiating the events.
He also congratulated her on overseeing a record number of girls participating in table tennis in Shetland, four of whom are among the top players in the primary age group in Scotland.
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